so other than being able to access classes specifically geared towards cyber security what benefits do honors kids get?
In the honors college you can have some smaller and more in depth classes. There are interesting honors seminars in university honors. Also because of the smaller class size you can have a closer relationship with professors which is helpful when it comes to internships and research opportunities. There are also special engagements and speakers for the honors college.
Do you know if theres access to smaller classes and in depth classes from scholars in the same field (cyber security) or is it better to just do the normal classes.
I’m afraid I don’t know that information. To my knowledge there is no cyber security scholars programs. @SoofDad is correct though, do really well in your regular classes and you can have a lot if success in the field. As he said, the program is new, but people have been doing just fine without it. If you work really hard and do very well, you will stand out.
I am in a similar situation @warunayapa i got accepted into CS and got an invitation into the Scholars program. I was wondering if i accept the scholars programs 2 year term can i apply for the honors college.
What is this notion of graduating with dept. honors and graduating in the honors college? Are you saying that when i graduate with high grades in CS i will be turned down by a company for a person who was in the honors program with lower scores?
@Noogler quite the opposite, the honors college isn’t going to trump great grades in CS. The honors college is based on your high school record. Employers are concerned with what you do in college, not high school.
@terpmom7 so the key is simply to do well and not be too concerned with the honors college nominees.
@Noogler the honors college is a good thing, it just isn’t a substitute for kicking butt in whatever your major is. Do well and you will succeed.
@Noogler The bottom line, I believenthat if you are invited to honors/scholars, that’s great. But, for those that weren’t it doesn’t mean that you won’t have great opportunities as long as you work hard for them.
Again, @terpmom7 is correct. Department honors will trump Honors College every day, Enjoy what Scholars has to offer and do your best in your CS courses. IMO, the DC area has the top cybersecurity organizations and professionals in the world … and UMD has connections to all of them.
Agree 100% with what was said here, when you are looking for jobs they don’t really care about what “programs” you were involved in. It depends on if you can do the job they need you to do, and did you do well with what you were asked to do in classes. I know people in gemstone, and plenty of the other programs, but that did not get them jobs.
As was pointed out ACES is extremely new, there are still students at UMD that never had a chance to do that and are working in cyber security, I believe internships can offer far more value than these programs.
You can be successful whether you get into the program or not, just keep your eye on the goal and take any opportunity that will allow you to expand your knowledge of cyber security.
I should note that Honors College students get direct admission to departmental honors in many departments. (It didn’t say so on either of my majors depts’. websites, but I was invited and told I’d be a direct admit because I’m in the honors college).